Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is now the standard of care for patients with symptomatic severe aortic stenosis who are at extreme, high, or intermediate risk for surgery. This multicenter, prospective study (Feasibility of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement in Low-Risk Patients With Symptomatic, Severe Aortic Stenosis) included low-risk patients and was approved by the United...
Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) randomized to rivaroxaban in the GALILEO trial experienced higher risk of all-cause death, thromboembolic events, and bleeding compared with patients who received antiplatelet therapy. The GALILEO trial was halted after an early peek of events at the data from the rivaroxaban (Xarelto; Bayer/Janssen) arm. These events included higher...
Up to now, there had been no randomized controlled trial assessing oral anticoagulation alone vs. oral anticoagulation plus antiplatelet therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation 1 year after stenting in a setting of stable coronary disease. Such was the vacuum that this work, presented at TCT 2018 and published simultaneously in Circulation, attempted to fill. This trial...
Polymer-free amphilimus-eluting stents are a novel technology combining sirolimus and long-chained fatty acids. This enhances the uptake of antiproliferative agents and may be associated with lower restenosis, particularly among patients with diabetes. The new device includes abluminal reservoirs filled with the drug; in consequence, there is no need for polymer. This work compares this new...
Polymer persistence in 1st and 2nd generation DES meant to allow drug release has been associated with a chronic inflammatory response that might be associated to restenosis, neo atherosclerosis and stent thrombosis. This is the rationale behind the development of polymer free and bioresorbable polymer-based DES. They have both been compared against permanent polymer DES,...
These new hypertension guidelines (which were as long-awaited as the American ones, back then) finally emerged in Barcelona, at the European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Congress. The document was issued jointly with the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). These guidelines provide recommendations for physicians to diagnose hypertension, evaluate risk, and determine when and how to...
Defining dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) seems a never-ending story. We go from trials showing the safety of shorter schemes thanks to new generation stents to others suggesting up to two years of DAPT. Rather than finding a general scheme, it seems to be about adjusting DAPT on a case by case basis, according to ischemia...
Dropping aspirin after the first month and continuing with ticagrelor monotherapy was not better than standard dual antiplatelet therapy (aspirin plus ticagrelor or clopidogrel) in patients who underwent coronary angioplasty. Patrick Serruys presented this work (which was simultaneously published in The Lancet) at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2018 and explained that, given...
The obvious risk of bleeding posed by aspirin was too clear in this work, casting a shadow of doubt over the indication of aspirin for primary prevention in diabetic patients. According to the ASCEND trial, presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2018 Congress and simultaneously published in NEJM, aspirin reduces cardiovascular events as...
The LEADERS FREE trial demonstrated that a polymer-free Biolimus A9-coated stent (BioFreedom™DCS; Biosensors Europe, Morges, Switzerland) is superior to a conventional stent (bare metal stent, BMS) in patients with high bleeding risk treated with only one month of dual antiplatelet therapy. Now, is this global study outcome applicable in cases of complex lesions with several...